"Wakey wakey, Methuselah! Rise and shine!" Reggie entered Iode's room abruptly, shouting with a wide, gaping smile on his face.
"Who died and made you wake up early?" Iode asked groggily.
"It's the weekend! We're going shopping!" Reggie said, jumping on Iode's bed, causing the latter to gag out loud.
"While I do want to die, I do not wish it to come from a demon. Just let me be. Let me slumber in peace. You guys can go shopping or whatever—I'd rather stay here," Iode muttered, turning over in bed.
"That won't cut it, Methuselah. Have you seen yourself in the mirror? Especially your clothes—they're ragged and battered," Reggie said.
"They wouldn't be if your dad hadn't set me up," Iode replied.
"That reminds me of a question I forgot to ask last time. Why did you twist that poor woman's memory into adopting us? Why trick everyone into believing we're siblings and that she took us in out of free will?" he asked, sitting up in bed.
"Not much to it. Her chauffeur—and even she herself—called us riffraff and poverty-wretched children who were aimlessly scampering around. Well, she wasn't entirely wrong, especially with the tattered clothes you wore that day..."
"However, it pissed me off. She was arrogant enough to flaunt her riches in front of two royal demons and an honorary noble. Since we're no longer home, I figured—why not use her wealth and fame to better our situation? In retrospect, that's what led us here. We didn't pick her for who she was. She was just bold enough to anger us," Reggie explained.
Iode stared at him blankly.
"What's with that look, Methuselah? You think what we did was outrageous and devilish, right? That we shouldn't have done it no matter what she said?" Reggie shrugged.
"Nah, I'm okay with it. No matter how I look at it, my situation is probably the result of karma. I wasn't a good person back home. I might be praised as a hero, but I've done a lot of unspoken atrocities. I've killed many to extend my life—after sacrificing it to fight Queen Bathsheba. Who am I to judge your moral conduct?" Iode replied.
"Great. Awesome. But I also have a question—how are you able to understand human language? Humans speak a lot—I mean a lot—of different languages. Even we demons have classes specifically to learn all of them. Have you been to Earth before?" Reggie asked.
"Now that you mention it, it is quite weird that I can understand them. I've never been to Earth before. I've only heard of it and the humans living on it. I don't have an answer—I didn't even use any magic." Iode said, puzzled.
"Quite the mystery. Anyway—let's go!" Reggie grabbed Iode's collar and pulled him off the bed.
"Kuek!" Iode gagged.
"To the bathroom we go!" Reggie said with a gaping smile, dragging Iode into the bathroom and slamming the door behind them.
---
"Did you two bathe together?" Nivea asked, seeing Iode and Reggie come out of the bathroom with towels wrapped around their waists. Iode wore a scowl.
"What are you doing in my room?!" Iode snapped, seeing Nivea sitting on his bed.
"Nothing of note," she replied seductively. She wore bum shorts and a crop top that showed her abdomen. She crossed her legs, revealing her thighs.
"Hey, Nivea—just between you and me—did you know that Methuselah's prick is—"
"Not a word is getting out of that preposterous mouth of yours!" Iode yelled. He raised his forearm and cast a spell. A water jet shot out from the bathroom, blasting Reggie in the face and flinging him across the room.
"Oh, you still have magic," Nivea said.
"Of course I do. But it's not like it used to be in my glorious days," Iode replied.
"Now you two—OUT!" he yelled, pushing both Nivea and Reggie out of the room and slamming the door shut behind them.
---
"This looks weird..." Reggie said, glancing at himself and Nivea.
"Did you two just come out of Iode's room? Why is Reggie only in a towel? Why is his body wet? And why are you dressed like that, Nivea? What happened in there?" Amica asked, her face a mix of shock and confusion.
"I only went to ask him something," Nivea replied flatly.
"What about you, Reggie?" Amica asked.
"I went to bathe with him," Reggie replied without hesitation.
"Bathe with him? You have your own room. There's a bathroom there," Amica said.
Reggie smirked devilishly. In a split second, he leaned close to Amica's ear and whispered:
"Just between us—but did you know Methuselah has a well-chiseled body? Six-pack abs, muscled like a Greek god..."
Amica's face turned bright red immediately. "Wh-what?!" she stammered.
"Stop teasing her, Reggie. Get to your room," Nivea said, dragging him away and slamming his door shut.
"Jeez, that boy can't go a day without pulling some sort of trick. You alright, Amica?" Nivea asked.
Amica's face remained red, and she fiddled with her hands. "Yeah… I'm alright."
'Such a young girl… She made her feelings a little too obvious for Reggie notice. He'll never pass up a chance to tease someone—especially when they're shy about it. And the guy she likes? Well… he's probably even older than her grandma. There's way too much material for Reggie to work with.' Nivea giggled to herself.
"Alright, Amica—let's get ready for today's event..."